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China Allows Visa-free Entry for 5 Latin American Nations to Boost Ties

FILE PHOTO: Tourists use their phones as they visit the Forbidden City in Beijing, China February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists use their phones as they visit the Forbidden City in Beijing, China February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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China Allows Visa-free Entry for 5 Latin American Nations to Boost Ties

FILE PHOTO: Tourists use their phones as they visit the Forbidden City in Beijing, China February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists use their phones as they visit the Forbidden City in Beijing, China February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

China will allow visa-free entry for nationals of five Latin American countries for one year to boost closer connections with the region.

Starting June 1, citizens of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay will be allowed to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, China's Foreign Ministry announced Thursday. The trial program will be in effect for one year.

“We welcome more foreign friends to visit China, to experience the colorful and vibrant China,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing.

Beijing hosted the China-CELAC, or Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Forum earlier this week, aiming at strengthening its alliances in the region as a counterweight to US influence.

China has been opening up to dozens of countries including most of the European nations, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia to boost the economy after strict pandemic travel measures. China and Uzbekistan will also begin mutual visa-free entry for up to 30 days starting June 1, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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World

President of Ukraine Arrives in Jeddah

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)
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President of Ukraine Arrives in Jeddah

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine arrived in Jeddah Thursday, SPA reported.

At King Abdulaziz International Airport, he was welcomed by Deputy Governor of Makkah Region Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz and several other officials.

World

Trump Says Iran 'Better Get Serious' in Mideast War Talks

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
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Trump Says Iran 'Better Get Serious' in Mideast War Talks

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP

US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday to engage in talks to end the Middle East war "before it is too late", after Tehran publicly spurned US overtures to resolve the nearly four-week conflict.

Trump's warning came as Israel said it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy, calling him "directly responsible" for throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the war's outbreak.

Hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has engulfed much of the region, rose after Washington was said to have put a peace plan to Tehran, only for the Islamic republic to deny the sides were speaking, AFP reported.

But Pakistan confirmed Thursday it was indeed facilitating "US-Iran indirect talks" by relaying messages -- and that a 15-point American plan was being "deliberated upon" by Tehran.

"They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty!" Trump warned on social media, saying Iran had been "militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback".

Iran's foreign minister flatly denied Wednesday that "negotiations" had been engaged with Trump's administration -- but did concede messages were being exchanged through "friendly countries".

"We seek an end to the war on our own terms," Abbas Araghchi said on state TV.

Islamabad has been touted as a go-between, given its longstanding ties with both neighbouring Iran and the United States, as well as its network of regional contacts.

 

 

World

Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
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Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo

Russia is in contact with the United States about a new round of talks on a Ukraine peace settlement as soon as conditions allow, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

"We remain open, we are in contact with the Americans, and we are counting on holding the next round of talks as soon ‌as circumstances permit," ‌Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov rejected ‌the ⁠thesis of a ⁠New York Times opinion piece that said the Iran war had caused President Vladimir Putin to lose interest in negotiating an end to the Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported.

"This is an absolutely false invention that does not correspond to reality. During the rounds of trilateral talks that ⁠have taken place, some progress was made ‌toward a settlement," Peskov told ‌reporters.

Peskov said Russia had not lost interest in peace ‌talks but added that key issues - including territory - had ‌yet to be settled.

The NYT opinion piece, by Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar, said Russia's economy had been faltering earlier this year, prompting Putin at that point to take negotiations on ‌a Ukraine settlement more seriously.

However, Zygar said the Iran war had reversed those dynamics by ⁠boosting ⁠oil prices, easing the economic pressure on Moscow and reducing the US focus on Ukraine, weakening any incentive for the Kremlin to seek a settlement.

Earlier this week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the US had briefed Russia about Washington's latest round of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, which took place last Saturday.

The last three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US took place last month, before the Trump administration and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28.